Event Managers Research Articles

Can sponsorships be harmful for events? Investigating the transfer of associations from sponsors to events

This paper outlines how sponsorships can be beneficial or harmful to events. Using an experimental design and focusing on association transfers surrounding a snowboarding event, we illustrate that the sponsoring brand associations have a significant effect on the associations of the event. Our results indicate that in this instance some associations are transferred; others are not significant. Event managers must track which of these association transfers are occurring in order to understand and maintain their desired positioning.

How Do the Internal Variables of the Sport Konsumer Affect the Marketing of ports Events; Case Study Triathlon in the UK

Triathlons and their events are in a new era in the consumption of sport. Because of this increased funding more professionals are needed to understand what attracts sports consumers to what is seen as a gruelling but enjoyable multi sports event. For affective marketing and event management, practioners need to understand more and more what decisions are made when the sports consumer makes a choice for a particular sports event.This study is focused at the National Governing Body for the sport of Triathlon in the United Kingdom and also the Regional/ local event managers and marketers. Drawing upon marketing and consumer behaviour literature, the primary aim of this research was to investigate from the consumer perspective how their internal variables during the decision making process of consumer behaviour affects the selection of sports event, namely triathlon. To establish this information, data was drawn upon previous participants of a triathlon event, then a further investigation into what decisions were made from triathlon consumer’s perspective when selecting an event.A self administered piloted questionnaire was done in January (2005) with twelve active local triathletes. A further 60 were then posted and electronically mailed to previous participants of a Triathlon event 2005 at the end of January (2005). The consumer’s abilities ranged from the recreational participant through to the elite athlete and the questionnaire contained eighteen questions incorporating a variety of ordinal and nominal questions as well as likert scale questions. The questionnaires were both returned electronically and by post.The response rate was fairly high at 92% (n=55), respondents represented the sample frame representing a cross section of gender, age and abilities. The quantitative data was analysed via SPSS 13.0 which is a statistical package. This revealed a variety of statistical results of approximately twenty with statistical findings (P

It’s Really Not about the Bike: Exploring Attraction and Attachment to the Events of the Lance Armstrong Foundation

Participatory sport events have emerged as viable fundraising mechanisms for charitable organizations. This article examines the impact that motives for charitable giving and sport event participation have on charity sport events. The authors examine the factors that attract participants to a charity sport event, while the role of charity in fostering attachment to the event is explored. Focus groups were conducted with charity sport event participants to discuss what motivated their participation. Results revealed that intellectual, social, and competency motives along with the motives of reciprocity, self-esteem, need to help others, and desire to improve the charity contribute to attraction. In addition, the results suggest that the charitable component influences social and competency motives and contributes to the development of attachment to the event. The authors recommend event managers work to foster and leverage the sense of community created through these events.

Examining Visitor Mindfulness at a Cultural Event

This study examined visitor mindfulness at a cultural festival. Mindfulness is considered a state of being that requires individuals to engage in active information processing, enabling them to be adaptive and responsive to information in their surroundings. Mindfulness is believed to result in more learning, high satisfaction, greater understanding, and greater feeling of control over behavior. Event managers must find ways to enhance visitor satisfaction as well as minimize negative impacts that result from events, and encouraging visitor mindfulness could contribute to these outcomes. This study took place over a 2-week period in July 2005 at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Results presented demonstrate that the more interested visitors were in the festival the higher they scored on the mindfulness scale. Visitor level of mindfulness was positively related to their satisfaction with the event and their feelings of control over their own contribution to impacts. Implications for event managers are discussed.

Supporting decisions in real-time enterprises: autonomic supply chain systems

Supporting decisions in real time has been the subject of a number of research efforts. This paper reviews the technology and architecture necessary to create an autonomic supply chain for a real-time enterprise for supply chain systems. The technologies weaved together include knowledge-based event managers, intelligent agents, radio frequency identification, database and system integration, and enterprise resource planning systems.

Conceptual paper: An exploration of time and its management for sport event managers

In a world driven by improved productivity and global technological developments, event managers are increasingly being forced to think and act immediately. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the sports event industry where time acts as the key finite arbiter and managers are expected to plan and control this rapidly depreciating resource against complex quality and budgetary expectations.

How do supplier relationships contribute to success in conference and events management?

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to report the findings from a survey of UK conference and event managers, which highlights the benefits that can accrue from supplier management within this sector.Design/methodology/approachA survey of venue managers covering a cross‐section of venue types was used.FindingsA significant proportion of venue managers report having long‐term supplier relationships, placing considerable value on the non‐financial benefits that can accrue from long‐term supplier relations featuring mutual trust and good working relationships. These include consistency, responsiveness and flexibility in service delivery. Additionally, the familiarity of regular suppliers with the venue and its procedures, can lead to seamless service delivery to the customer and free‐up venue managers time.Research limitations/implicationsThe research design provides a one‐sided view of supplier relationships.Practical implicationsAttention is drawn to the performance benefits arising from building supplier relationships and offers guidance as to how these can be sustained by avoiding the pitfalls on long‐term relationships. In doing so, the findings legitimise the importance of taking non‐financial considerations into account when awarding or renewing supply contracts.Originality/valueThis paper applies lessons emerging from research on supplier relationships to a growing, but under‐researched, sector of the hospitality industry.

Festival Stakeholder Roles: Concepts and Case Studies

In this exploratory research, multiple case studies of various types of festivals in two countries reveal how festival managers work with stakeholders and who they are. Stakeholders' roles are categorized as regulator, facilitator, coproducer, supplier, collaborator, audience, and the impacted, and the results show clearly that key stakeholders take multiple roles affecting the organization. Practical implications are drawn for event managers regarding the identification, evaluation, and management of stakeholder relationships. Drawing on resource dependency and stakeholder theories, a conceptual model is presented that illustrates the conclusion that festivals and events are produced within and by a set of managed stakeholder relationships. Recommendations are made for development of this line of research and theory building.

Case Study: Calculating the Ecological Footprint of the 2004 Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference

AbstractEvent tourism is accompanied by social, economic and environmental benefits and costs. The assessment of this form of tourism has however largely focused on the social and economic perspectives, while environmental assessments have been bound to a destination-based approach. The application of the Ecological Footprint methodology allows for these environmental assessment boundaries to be extended. This case study applies the footprint methodology to the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference held in Adelaide in 2004. The results of the case study provide important insight into the planning and delivery of future events for the Association and event managers.

Managing Personnel in Major Sport Event Organizations: What Strategies are Required?

In Australia, the state of Victoria has been successful in securing many major sport events. Examples of such events annually conducted in Victoria are the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, The Melbourne Cup, and the Australian Football League Grand Final. Apart from these annual events, Victoria has also been successful in conducting the Bledisloe (rugby) Cup, the 2002 World Yachting Championship, the 2002 World Master Games, and the 2005 Deaflympics. Victoria was also successful in its bids to host the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2007 World Swimming Championship. These events have also attracted large audiences, which in part are the result of the efficient management of the organizations that coordinate these events. However, this begs the question: What underpinned the operation of such organizations, and were tailored or sport-specific practices incorporated for managing personnel? The purpose of this article is to explore the management processes of two major sport events, and examine the extent to which tailored or sport-specific management practices for personnel were incorporated by each of the major sport event managers. Semistructured interviews were conducted with managers from two event organizations—the Australian Tennis Open and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation—and supporting documentation was gathered to verify issues raised in the interviews. The findings revealed two distinctive types of practices. First, a number of systematic and tailored practices were used to manage personnel in each of these major sport event organizations. On the other hand, there were instances where guidance was lacking, and personnel were left to interpret detailed induction manuals with little supervision. As a result, many inconsistent practices were performed and personnel often felt alienated from the management team. On the basis of these results, it is recommended that more detailed documentation and guidance be utilized to manage the variety of personnel during the life cycle of major sport events.

Impacts of Terrorism-Related Safety and Security Measures at a Major Sport Event

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, major sport event organizers have had to grapple with a range of associated impacts, including increased security costs and changed stakeholder expectations. Event organizers have acted to realize a balance between effective risk management measures that offer appropriate security while not unduly deterring from spectators' enjoyment of the event. To better understand the post 9/11 sport event environment and attendee reactions, we surveyed 2003 Rugby World Cup attendees on aspects related to terrorism, risk, safety and security. We found that the majority of attendees felt safe and indicated that the security measures in place neither enhanced nor detracted from their level of enjoyment. A substantial proportion of event attendees were either openly defiant about terrorism or dismissive of any threat to their security. Implications for event managers are discussed.

Discriminating Factors of First-time and Repeat Visitors to Wine Festivals

While many events individually claim varied successes, it is worth acknowledging the growing competition between events and festivals in attracting and retaining repeat visitors. In particular, it is of interest to investigate festivals which have established a 'following' of visitors, and to establish what could sustain their attendees' interest for staging of future festivals. Event managers should be aware of the festival attributes that differentiate between two distinct visitor groups – the first-time visitor group versus the repeat visitors attending an annual festival on a regular basis. This paper investigates the attributes associated with the successful staging of a wine festival staged over a five-weekend period during the autumn of 2002 to determine which of the attributes significantly discriminate between first-time and repeat visitor groups. Results identified two attributes and four visitor characteristics that showed discriminating ability. The two festival attributes with discriminating abilities between the first-time visitors and repeat visitors were parking and services, while the four visitor characteristics that showed discriminating effects were age, place of residence, group composition, and information sources utilised. Results are discussed and implications for the festival organisers are proposed.

A Review of Web-Based Job Advertisements for Australian Event Management Positions

Strong growths in the Australian event management industry, ongoing technological changes and the internationalization of the market place has spurred the need for appropriately educated and trained event managers and for a re-evaluation of educational and job training curriculum to meet these new challenges. In order for Australia to position itself as a world leader in event management, it is important to provide consistent high professional standards and event managers that not only meet, but exceed the demands of the industry. While there is some literature that focuses on the tourism and leisure job market (Crossley, 1992; Keung & Pine, 2000), and a small but developing literature base that focuses on event management training (Harris & Jago, 1999; Hawkins & Goldbatt, 1995) relatively little consideration has been given to a national agenda for event management skilling. To provide an indication of current employer requirements, a nationwide study of job advertisements in event management has commenced. The aims of the study are to further the understanding of the educational needs and training requirements of the industry; to ascertain the learned skills and personal attributes sought from event managers; to determine the compatibility of industry demands with current educational and vocational provisions; and to suggest post-secondary institutional avenues through which event management education and training needs can be pursued. This is an ongoing study and it is hoped that it will contribute towards a broad scale understanding of the event management job market. More importantly, however, it can be used as the basis for curriculum evaluation and training needs, and create a better understanding and compatibility between event management education and industry practice. This paper reports the preliminary results from a content analysis of approximately 100 web-based job advertisements. E-mail alert accounts were established with several search engines to gather a sample of event management related job advertisements from around Australia. An analytical framework was devised for the analysis of the advertisements themselves. The results reveal several interesting trends including the geographical concentration of the event management job market, the range of industries that require event management specialists or event management skills, and a series of required skills and key attributes of event managers. The results of this study establish a platform from which to develop a classification of event management skills required by the industry.

Inclusive and Accessible Special Event Planning: An Australian Perspective

People with disabilities have a right to access the full range of social activities and services available in a society. Nonetheless, the way that the built and social environments are constructed restrict access of the group to participation, and hence, their rights of citizenship. This paper looks at how those engaged in the organisation of events can facilitate the involvement of people with disabilities in the conferences, festivals, and sporting events that they conduct. The paper begins by providing a brief overview of selected statistics and legislation associated with disability in Australia. The paper then looks at the operationalization of event planning in Australia through a review of complaint cases made under the Disability Discrimination Act, 1992. The review provides an insight into the current discriminatory practices employed by event and venue managers. The paper then presents a ‘best practice’ case study of the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games to show how disability and access issues were incorporated into the event planning and operations processes. The paper concludes with some directions that event and venue managers may employ to better incorporate people with disabilities within their programs.

Events Industry Accreditation in Australia

The issue of service quality and standards has become increasingly prominent in events tourism, yet professional standards remain difficult to implement at the event operational level. O'Neill, Getz, and Carlsen (1999) found that there is a nexus between service quality at events and visitor satisfaction, which has implications for repeat visitation and therefore viability of recurrent events. The management of service quality at events is a difficult task, due to the temporary and intangible nature of the event experience for visitors and the reliance on volunteers and subcontractors by event managers.

Determinants of Sports Sponsorship Response

Despite the growing role of sponsorship in the marketing activities of firms worldwide, academic research in this area has been limited. Adopting a classical conditioning framework, this research examines the effects of consumers’ attitudes about a sports event, their perceptions of sponsor-event fit, and their attitudes about the sponsor on a multidimensional measure of sponsorship response. The results suggest that sponsor-event fit, perceived sincerity of the sponsor, perceived ubiquity of the sponsor, and attitude toward the sponsor are key factors in generating a favorable response from sponsorship. Liking of the event and perceived status of the event have differing significance depending on how response is measured. Sponsorevent fit also has interaction effects with perceived status of the event and personal interest in the event. The implications of these findings for sponsors and event managers are examined, and future research directions are outlined.

An analysis of travel behaviour and event-induced expenditures among American collegiate championship patron groups

The topic of economic impact has been frequently explored by scholars and practitioners alike. Generally, the thrust of these investigations has been directed toward the magnitude of expenditures made by visitors to the host community as well as methodological critiques. Disappointingly, an assessment of visiting event patrou expenditure behaviours based on participating team affiliation type has been omitted from these analyses. Furthermore, limited research at best has been conducted on the travel planning behaviour of team-oriented sporting event patrons as well as its impact on the event-induced expenditures of the traveller. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of this paper was to explore vacation planning and subsequent event-induced expenditure behaviour patterns of team-affiliated patron sub-groups. An analysis incorporating 1,646 visiting event patrons was conducted at ten American collegiate national championships over the course of a six-mouth period. Factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures identified several significant statistical differences existing among expenditure behaviours of the team-affiliated event patron groups under investigation yielding valuable information for event managers and communities hosting team-oriented sporting events.